So, if everyone is concerned about the income gap, what's the big difference between left and right? It's the difference between opportunity and outcome. Conservatives want to increase opportunity, giving everyone the freedom and tools to prosper, so that the poor may someday become rich. Liberals want to redistribute income, making the rich - quite simply - less rich.

The base tactic of the Marxist leftists and community organizers is to play on the most vulnerable human emotions, envy and jealousy in order to create class and race resentment and separation.

What the media helps hide from the uninformed is that no progress is ever made on behalf of the less wealthy by taking from those who have been successful. The real irony is how the grossly overinflated compensation of network news readers, education administrators, union bosses, entertainers and athletes never enter the conversation. It's always just Wall Street and Oil Execs that are used as whipping boys.

I have never envied what Wall Street execs/workers do everyday...never.

Their job would make me crazy, depressed, and I would probably take up drinking.

That said, I think they earn their money. They do a job that I couldn’t do and don’t want to do, BUT if I CHOSE to do it, I could...and make the money they make.

And yes,there are thieves and liars among them, but that is true of ANY profession; there are bad apples everywhere, that’s part of life for goodness sake!

OTOH, reporters, “journolists”, and sad to say teachers, are jobs that are way over paid. (I just heard a teacher screamimg somehwere)...they make themselves and their profession to be the first rung of sainthood...a job that requires you to be better than and above the rest of us...sure. Right.

DO NOT EVEN get me started on TEACHERS...I am old enough to remember real teachers AND I also remember when they started striking every August; I experienced my first strike at 6 years old...and I NEVER FORGOT it...it’s the main reason I am a Conservative today!

1. Conservatives care most about the size of government. - I care most about my freedom and I see the government as an obstacle to that freedom, so yes I want to shrink government to get them OUT of my life.

2. Conservatives want to deport all illegal immigrants. - Yep.

3. They worship Wall Street - I worship the free market of which Wall Street is an important part

4. Conservatives want to slash Social Security and Medicare. - Yep, and eliminating them would be even better!

5. Conservatives don't care about inequality. - I care about equality of opportunity not equality of outcome.

According to our polling in November, seven in 10 conservatives agree with the following statement: Americas immigration policy should consist of tall fences and wide gates. We need to aggressively prevent illegal immigration, but let those stay that have worked hard and demonstrated a real, measurable commitment to this country through military or public service.

Even more depressing. Whatever happened to the Rule of Law? Why should those lawebreakers who broke into our country, worked illegally, evaded taxes, committed identity theft, etc. be allowed to get the object of their crime while millions of intending legal immigrants who have completed all the paperwork are waiting their turn to enter?

Do we really need wider gates? We already take in 1.2 million LEGAL immigrants a year, more than the rest of the world combined. 57% of all immigrant headed households with children are on at least one major welfare program. 25% of the adult legal immigrants lack even a high school degree and 50% of the illegals lack a high school degree. Do we really need to import more high school dropouts into this country?

If you don’t object to the excessive government regulation of most everything, you aren’t conservative even though you may self identify as such. This is a BS article. There are many different approaches to the illegal immigration problem but all conservatives want to control the borders and vet immigrants. Wall Street is home to much crony capitalism. Equal opportunity does not guarantee equal outcomes. My opinions anyhow.

The same thing about ‘wide gates’ caught my eye. I think a couple of things are going on here.

1. Much depends on which questions pollsters ask, and how they frame the ones they do ask. If Luntz, or whoever actually posed the question about what immigration policy should be as “America’s immigration policy...wide gates” then shame on them. It’s a meaningless soundbite phrase that sounds good but suggests nothing specific. A better question is to ask Americans directly if they think we should increase, decrease, or maintain current levels of legal immigration. I haven’t seen a poll putting it that way in a while, but generally those polls show a majority or plurality in support of REDUCING legal immigration. Sometimes support for maintaining current levels wins out, but support for increasing legal immigration is always a distant third, usually failing to surpass 20%.

2. The focus on illegal immigration has served to sort of sanctify legal immigration. Whether it’s Romney, Gingrich, Rush, or Hannity, pretty much any tough talk about illegal immigration is prefaced and followed with tripe about how much they love legal immigration, and how they have no problem with immigration as long as its legal. I think this may have filtered down and now rank and file conservatives think it’s only proper to question and fight illegal immigration, while legal immigration is all good. This is unfortunate, because the question is never asked, ‘okay you support legal immigration, but how much legal immigration do you support?’

I fear that the factors in play for number 2 may change number one. I fear that the focus on illegal immigration may make Americans much more supporting of unending and increased mass legal immigration, which will result in demographic oblivion for the GOP and conservatism. However, I also believe that Americans general opposition to mass immigration and support for reduced legal immigration would remain if they were made fully aware of how much legal immigration we currently admit. And if the public knew that leadership in both parties would like to greatly increase these already high levels of legal immigration, I’m confident they would oppose it overwhelmingly. Frankly I’m surprised that we haven’t yet seen Congress approve a huge increase in legal immigration.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.